How Far We Have To Go
by DanThe New York Times on Experience Design Usability:
Sometimes there is a huge disconnect between the people who make a product and the people who use it. The creator of a Web site may assume too much knowledge on the part of users, leading to confusion. Software designers may not anticipate user behavior that can unintentionally destroy an entire database. Manufacturers can make equipment that inadvertently increases the likelihood of repetitive stress injuries.Enter the usability professional, whose work has recently developed into a solid career track, driven mostly by advancements in technology.
This isn’t an article from 1997. It’s from July 8, 2007. Another groaner from the article, which I am hoping is just a typo:
Harvinder Singh, president of Bestica, which is based in San Antonio, says that there is a shortage of people to fill usability jobs.“We’re working with companies like Microsoft and Yahoo and having a lot of trouble finding user-experienced people,” he said.
Sigh. Has the design profession really made such little progress?
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July 7th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
whats the problem?
July 7th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
“Fresh Starts is a monthly column about emerging jobs and job trends.”
Emerging?
July 7th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Does usability testing pay well? If so, how do I evolve?
If not, that might be part of the trouble . . .
-danny
July 8th, 2007 at 1:35 am
[...] Adaptive Path’s article shows that it will take time until the general public (and most important, the clients) understands what web design / web development is all about. [...]
July 8th, 2007 at 3:38 am
Outside of the Bay Area and some other pockets this is emerging and most people have never heard about it.
July 8th, 2007 at 7:06 am
It’s not much of a profession when everybody can and does design…
I think it’s more an issue related to our consistent inability to consistently communicate what we do to “the outside world.”
The NYT article seems woefully under-informed and not well written, or more specifically,
usability testededited either.July 8th, 2007 at 9:55 am
[...] and doesn’t reflect much of the current state of affairs in the field, as was correctly pointed out by Dan Saffer of Adaptive [...]
July 8th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Anyone can play baseball too. Doesn’t make them a professional athlete.
July 9th, 2007 at 1:28 am
[...] riflette adeguatamente l’andamento degli affari in tale ambito come è stato correttamente precisato da Dan Saffer di Adaptive [...]
July 9th, 2007 at 7:01 am
[...] about Usability Professionals: Technology’s Untanglers: They Make It Really Work. I’ve read mixed feelings about this article as [...]
July 9th, 2007 at 9:01 am
In 2002, the company I was working for (at the time the biggest Italian Internet web site) fired all the people in the usability team, as they were “unusefull”. Very wise I guess.
July 9th, 2007 at 9:34 am
“user-experienced people” is simply fantastic! LOL!!!
July 27th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Hey Dan. Greetings from CMU.
See my response to Matthew Oliphant’s similar take on the matter.
Of course the design profession has made much more progress than the NYT article tells. But while the article belies the profession, we need to understand that it is a blip in the history of texts that explain usability. It’s not a long article, nor is it a documentary of the profession.